The 2025 BlackStar Film Festival was held July 31 – Aug 3
WHAT: BlackStar Film Festival is an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the global majority, showcasing films by Black, Brown, and Indigenous people from around the world. There will be screenings, panels, parties, and other events. #BSFF25 #CinemaForLiberation
WHERE: In-person at venues along Broad St in Philadelphia (Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Wilma Theatre, and the Suzanne Roberts Theatre) and Streaming online.
Discover ground-breaking indie film from the global majority at this year’s BlackStar Film Festival taking place July 31 – Aug 3! Check out the SCHEDULE and make your plan to attend.
Two SIFTers had Films Screening…
jasmine lynea‘s DELLA CAN FLY! – Screening Date: Thursday, July 31st @5pm – TICKETS
DISCOUNT CODE: siftmedia15 – 15% off tickets
POST UPDATE 8/5/2025 – Q&A from the Antecessor Shorts Block which included Della Can Fly!
Click image for video
Della Can Fly! is a Black folktale set in the early 2000s. In hopes of reuniting with his long-lost sister, an eccentric old man is in desperate need to prove to his family that she flew away. With the help of his grieving 10-year-old great-niece, they rectify the family myth, proving it to be true.
jasmine lynea is a queer storyteller who radically dreams beyond the boundaries of our reality. Their work navigates the fluid spaces between truth and myth, offering vibrant, unconventional narratives that envision a liberating future. jasmine is a Mural Arts and BlackStar Fellow. Currently, jasmine is a NextFab x Leeway Artist-in-Residence.
Kristal Sotomayor‘s LAS COSAS QUE BRILLAN – Screening Date: Sunday, August 3rd @5:30pm – TICKETS
Premiere Party – RSVP
Sunday, August 3rd
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
254 Bar (Formerly Tabu)
POST UPDATE 8/5/2025 – Q&A from the Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab Shorts which included Las Cosas Que Brillan
Click image for video
When a trans Latinx mermaid defies her mother’s warnings, she is forced to confront the violent legacies of colonialism, environmental destruction and the danger of being desired in the human world.
Kristal Sotomayor is a nonbinary Peruvian American director, producer, and journalist. Their debut narrative short Las Cosas Que Brillan is supported by BlackStar. Their film Expanding Sanctuary (OTV/Kanopy) won the Philadelphia Filmmaker Award at BlackStar and Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens, which won Best LGBTQ Documentary at Poppy Jasper.
FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THIS YEAR’S BLACKSTAR – Visit SIFTer
LeAnne Lindsay’s Tinsel & Tine
SIFT is a BLACKSTAR SHORTS PROGRAM COMMUNITY PARTNER
Orison Shorts
A series of experiments and prayer offerings by Black women filmmakers.
Screening: August 2nd @9:30pm TICKETS
SIFT IS A MEMBER OF COLOR CONGRESS: Don’t Miss RECLAIMING THE REEL Panel
July 31st 5:30pm @Kimmel
Ambreen Qureshi from Educational Video Center, Charlie Raboteau from Scribe Video Center, Ginou Choueiri from ArteEast, and JT Takagi from Third World Newsreel. Sonya Childress and Sahar Driver will be moderating.
Enjoy food, drinks, and the company and cheer of community mediamakers
Date: Friday, August 1st,
Time: 7PM-10PM
Place: Good Karma Cafe located at 928 Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Join Scribe Video Center, MING (Media in Neighborhood Groups), American Documentary | POV, and Color Congress in celebrating the WORLD PREMIERE screenings of Louis Massiah and Monica Henriquez’s TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing THE FILM PREMIERES – July 31st 8pm. AND Mike Davis Sr. and Debbie Davis’s A New Voice The Film Screens Aug 1st 3pm at the 14th Annual BlackStar FIlm Festival.